'You did it. Good job!' Anitera Jackson said to Shannah Cole after she stacked her triangles in the right order at Shady Dell Early Childhood Center. / Valerie Mosley/News-Leader

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Missouri’s Compulsory Attendance Law

Under state law, a child must be enrolled in — and regularly attending — a public, private, parochial, home school or a combination of schools for the full year starting at age 7. The term “compulsory attendance age for the district” shall mean age 17 or having successfully completed 16 credits toward high school graduation, in all other cases. Children between age 5-7 are not required to enroll in school. But, if they are enrolled, a parent or guardian is expected to make sure they regularly attend.

Every Child — Ready to Learn

A joint project of KY3 and the Springfield News-Leader to help the community understand the need for improved early childhood education in the Ozarks.

About the series

Part 1 (April 21-23): The need for better preschool programs Part 2 (April 28-30): A look at how other communities are putting their children to the front of the class. Part 3 — Sunday: What community leaders here believe needs to be done to help our children be Ready to Learn Today: Missouri’s history with kindergarten may offer road map.

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Advocates for expanded preschool access in Missouri see a possible road map in the state’s history with kindergarten.

They said increased access and state funding helped change parents’ attitudes about kindergarten.

“When I started my career in this business, kindergarten was optional and it still is today,” said Dennis Cooper, assistant commissioner of the Office of Quality Schools for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Despite that, 94 percent of the state’s eligible children are now enrolled in full-day kindergarten, according to a 2013 Children’s Defense Fund report.

“Most people don’t see it as (optional) anymore because we fund it,” said Cooper.

Springfield community leaders are exploring ways to improve access to early childhood education. Like what happened with kindergarten, the overall number of preschool classrooms statewide has slowly increased — along with support — as the years pass.

Preschool proponents are looking at a voluntary program that is high quality and offered in a lot of different settings.

Peter Herschend, president of the Missouri Board of Education, said kindergarten has never been mandated in this state, but many families now view it as essential.

He said when interest in kindergarten ramped up about 30 years ago, districts found ways to offer the class at least half of the day or just several days a week.

Herschend, who has been on the state board for 22 years, said the big shift came early in his tenure. Nearly 20 years ago, kindergarten became part of the state funding formula — which led to a widespread expansion.

“At that point, about 50 percent of districts had some form of kindergarten,” he said.

As part of the state funding formula, kindergarten is given the same funding weight as grade 1 through 12.

But parents still have a choice.

In Missouri, children who turn age 5 by Aug. 1 can enroll in kindergarten for that school year.

But, parents aren’t required to enroll a child in an educational setting — public, private, parochial, home school or a combination — until age 7.

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Cooper, who lives in Springfield, sees parallels between the current push for preschool and what advocates went through to fund kindergarten. Now enrollment has become almost automatic.

“It was the realization that kids who are exposed to those early learning opportunities did better in first, second and third grade,” he said. “We had fewer of those kids who needed remediation by third grade in those basic skills.”

In Springfield Public Schools, kindergarten has been fully embraced. There is no significant difference between the kindergarten and first-grade enrollment. There were 2,180 children in kindergarten and nearly as many in first grade.

“Most families and most students are enrolled,” said J. Anderson, the district’s director of operations for elementary.

According to that recent Children’s Defense Fund report, full-day kindergarten is not required or part of the funded public school system in most states. Only 10 states and Washington, D.C., require districts to both provide and fund the year.

Missouri doesn’t require it and even allows districts to charge parents tuition to enroll a child in full-day kindergarten. But tuition for kindergarten is uncommon because the districts that charge aren’t eligible, under state statute, to also receive state funding for that grade.